Feel good lawnmowing!

I still haven't had much of a chance to sit down, I'm too busy acting on the post-Springsteen energy boom while its here.

Yesterday was a terrific success, as the whole family adjusted to being home, and my husband and I started to cope with the burden of being back in a less than ideal environment.

With the motivation of Springsteen songs running through my head, I got the whole lawn mowed in our 1/4 acre block!  A little bit of a contribution from hubby  to mow the messiest part down the back where weeds were growing 2 feet high and the place looks terrific.

You will be able to tell from the photos how much junk was lying around before the mowing, as there are white spots all over the lawn where bits and pieces were lying around for the whole week we were in Melbourne. 

The guinea pigs were a bit disappointed at no more long grass to nibble.

The back lawn looks a lot better now. It will take time for all the marks to grow out from the mess that was lying around.

This is the very messy bit that my husband mowed. And some of the junk that we just moved so we could mow around it.

My roses are going to look great against the lawn. The front garden needs a lot of weeding. I am tackling this by weeding a little every time I go out the front door. It seems to be stopping the situation from getting worse at least!

The best reward for my efforts, is that my 19 year old blind cat was able to find himself this patch of sunlight to warm up in today.

All I can say is Seize the Day, get off your ARSE and get things done. I'm sure if you're not an Aussie you could get off your ASS if you like too.  

Veggie Garden Challenge week!

This week, I'm inspired to get out into our veggie garden.  We have been half hearted growers for about 5 years, and last year I achieved my goal of having some kind of crop year-round.  Here is the most recent harvest, a Kent Pumpkin.  Last year at one point we had 6 growing on the vine.

My challenge for the week is to get the winter crops planted, as well as a fresh batch of year-round things like lettuce and carrots.

Here are the before shots.

These are the 2 empty beds at the front. Behind the big bed is mostly parsley and beetroot.

This shot shows the weeds! but in the foreground is the mini-bed with capsicum (bell peppers) and a big space in the middle where my tomatos and basil are going.

We have chives to help keep the aphids away from our rosebushes. I planted these on the weekend, with my son, around 'his' rosebush, a scented Mister Lincoln who hasn't yet flowered.  I also want to incorporate nasturiun and marigolds into the pest-repellants for the rose area.

The other crops going in are 2 punnets of lettuce - but first we need to finish preparing the bed, with some extra soil and compost.  I will be sowing some carrot seeds into trays for transplanting among the lettuce as they make good companion plants.

 

My husband bought some unknown 'somethings' I think I'll get them identified before I let them into the garden! 

We also have cucumbers (or they might be zucchini!) - these will need some support as the plants grow viney.

Happily, I already managed to get the 4 basil and 2 tomato plants into a garden bed with some existing capsicum (bell peppers) before all our rain, so with any luck they will thrive as soon as it stops raining. This is the basil before planting out, in one big clump.

For the rest of the week I'll be working on the list of jobs and plants above.  At the moment around the subtropics it really is time to plant broccoli and some of the other winter crops for early harvesting.

In the northern hemisphere its the perfect time to get all your spring / summer crops in like beans, beetroot, cucumber, cabbage, celery, even sweet corn, potato and leeks.  This site has a terrific worldwide sowing guide, although nothing replaces local knowledge, if you can get in touch with keen growers near you they'll have so many tips and tricks that suit your climate perfectly.

Being Prepared

I've had almost no sleep, my husband was with my Dad until 3am this morning as he tranferred from the nursing home to hospital with pneumonia. I had 2 children waking up in turns most of the night. The hospital kindly phoned me at 5:24 in the morning, simply to tell me that Dad was being admitted, breaking what little sleep I'd had. And so todays blog is about preparation. I was a Girl Guide. Be Prepared was their motto. I don't think at the tender age of 15 I had a clue what they meant. Now I believe I know what they mean, however my execution is lacking. My mother in law is prepared. Her mother, incidentally was a Girl Guide Leader for many years! Or perhaps it is a generational thing. She has her house and life organised in such a way that unexpected visitors simply mean closing a couple of doors (like the always busy sewing room), and she's ready. Visitors on short notice? Quick mop and she's ready. Visitors for morning tea? Defrost biccies. Visitors for lunch? Defrost some quiche. Unexpected illness? More defrosting. A chest freezer is pretty central to her level of preparedness!

My point is that no matter what the occasion, she's ready. She'll be having some minor surgery soon. You can bet she's cooking extra meals now, in preparation for leaving my father in law to fend for himself. One of her most amazing acts of preparation is her amazing potting efforts. An avid gardener, in the drought a few years ago, she chose the important plants, transferred them to pots, and watered them from the dam. I just hope that I can begin to become somewhat prepared, even if it is not as spectacularly well done as my Mother in Law.